Re-engineering, my eye

I just got off the phone with Ameritech. If they’re not the slowest phone company in North America, they’re #2 and trying hard. This time I had to call to ask where our phone books were. The answer: “oh, we’ll send some out; it will take 10-15 business days.” That’s right: three weeks to mail me two lousy phone books. Why does it take so long? Aren’t businesses all over the world supposedly re-engineering their processes to improve them?
No. Actually, they’re re-engineering process to make money, either by reducing costs or improving revenue. I can’t come up with a single example of a process retooling that was done solely to improve customer service or response time. I suppose that’s to be expected from a business culture that values profitability over everything else, but as a consumer it’s mighty frustrating.